Sowell Financial Services LLC Invests $871,000 in Apollo Global Management Inc. (NYSE:APO)

Sowell Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apollo Global Management Inc. (NYSE:APO) in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 6,362 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $871,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Amundi lifted its holdings in shares of Apollo Global Management by 13.2% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 801,260 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $129,788,000 after acquiring an additional 93,451 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System bought a new position in Apollo Global Management during the 4th quarter valued at about $20,034,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in Apollo Global Management by 245.9% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,653,160 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $438,196,000 after purchasing an additional 1,886,146 shares during the last quarter. Coordinated Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in Apollo Global Management during the 4th quarter valued at about $473,000. Finally, Blue Whale Capital LLP bought a new position in Apollo Global Management during the 4th quarter valued at about $47,400,000. 77.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Apollo Global Management Price Performance

Shares of APO stock opened at $133.02 on Thursday. Apollo Global Management Inc. has a 1 year low of $95.11 and a 1 year high of $189.49. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $132.96 and its 200-day moving average is $147.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $76.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.30, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

Apollo Global Management (NYSE:APO) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 2nd. The financial services provider reported $1.82 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.84 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $5.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $977.14 million. Apollo Global Management had a return on equity of 13.45% and a net margin of 14.59%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 21.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.72 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Apollo Global Management Inc. will post 8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apollo Global Management Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th were paid a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.53%. This is an increase from Apollo Global Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 16th. Apollo Global Management’s payout ratio is 35.73%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on APO shares. TD Cowen cut their price target on shares of Apollo Global Management from $214.00 to $144.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Apollo Global Management from $191.00 to $138.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Apollo Global Management from $158.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Apollo Global Management in a report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Apollo Global Management from $186.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $159.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apollo Global Management news, CFO Martin Kelly sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.57, for a total value of $530,280.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 373,164 shares in the company, valued at approximately $49,470,351.48. This trade represents a 1.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Lb 2018 Gst Trust bought 607,725 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 4th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $111.39 per share, for a total transaction of $67,694,487.75. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now owns 621,754 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $69,257,178.06. This trade represents a 4,331.92% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 8.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Apollo Global Management Profile

Apollo Global Management, Inc is a private equity firm specializing in investments in credit, private equity, infrastructure, secondaries and real estate markets. The firm prefers to invest in private and public markets. The firm’s private equity investments include traditional buyouts, recapitalization, distressed buyouts and debt investments in real estate, corporate partner buyouts, distressed asset, corporate carve-outs, middle market, growth, venture capital, turnaround, bridge, corporate restructuring, special situation, acquisition, and industry consolidation transactions.